Queen Mary University of London Volunteering

Queen Mary University of London Volunteering

Queen Mary University of London Volunteering

Volunteering

QMUL is committed to building its on campus and community volunteering opportunities, and encouraging both staff and students to give their time to make a positive impact both on campus and in our local community.

As they arise, specific opportunities will be advertised on our News and Events pages. We also have regular volunteering opportunities for students and staff through Green Mary, and QMSU offers a range of volunteering opportunities to students through the QMSU Volunteering service. Follow the links below to find more information on volunteering opportunities.

The right hand box also provides details of a number of local organisations with whom QMUL staff and students can volunteer.

Volunteering

Find out more about our community volunteering here!

QMSU Volunteering

QMSU Volunteering is the Volunteering Service for QM and BL students. QMSU Volunteering partner with over 150 charities, non-profit making organisations and statutory bodies to provide hundreds of quality volunteering opportunities for students to get involved in. Staff work with these organisations to create opportunities accessible for students and ensure they meet the compliance guidance to deliver safe opportunities for students.

This enables over 800 students to access a variety of opportunities to volunteer in the local community and across London each year, developing confidence, skills, practical work experience and opportunities to get involved in their local community to make a positive impact on an individual, cause or environment in need.

As a result, QMSU Volunteering manage 3 streams of Volunteering to take place to positively impact on the local community and on the students involved:

One Day Opportunities

Regular Opportunities through Brokerage

Student Volunteering Groups and Projects

Details on what a selection of our student-led Volunteering Groups do are below:

Teddy Bear Hospital

A student-led Volunteering group, whose primary aim is to educate the children of Tower Hamlets and eliminate their fear of doctors and dentists. Student volunteers attend clinics at local primary schools, teaching 5-7 year old children about the importance of health, helping the children lose their fear of doctors/dentists and the hospital environment in a playful and non-threatening way.

Team Up

A student-led Volunteering group, overseen by a registered charity with groups at other Universities. Their vision is that all young people should have an equal chance of fulfilling their potential regardless of their social background. This is achieved by recruiting university students to inspire people in the local community by helping them achieve their academic potential while enhancing their own career prospects with leadership skills.

The student volunteers run a ‘Saturday School’ on campus, offering homework help and academic guidance, and students are also placed into local secondary schools in a mentor role.

QM and BL STAR

A student-led Volunteering group, split across the Whitechapel and Mile End campuses and overseen by the national charity, Student Action for Refugees (STAR). They aim to improve the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK by volunteering, fundraising, campaigning and educating.

Students volunteer at an English Conversation Club in Bethnal Green, where they aim to teach and improve the English of asylum seekers and refugees and help them have a smooth and comfortable transition. They also fundraise for the national charity, campaign to end people being detained unfairly, and educate people through events they organise.

Aspire

A student-led Volunteering group, set up in 2012 to take forward the legacy of the Paralympic Games in East London. Students teach local able-bodied primary school children about the values of the Paralympic Games and disability sport more generally. The students also teach the children how to play a range of disability sports (Boccia, Wheelchair Basketball, Goalball, Blindfolded Football etc) and to understand how disabled people have to modify sports in order to play them. These school sessions then result in a Disability Sport day on campus where the schools come together with mini competitions in each of the sports.

Project Play

A BL student-led volunteering group set up through the BL Paediatric Society and the BL Volunteering Officer. A group of 10 students provide play toys and activities for children and siblings waiting to be seen in Paediatric A&E at The Royal London hospital. Volunteers are equipped with a supply of toys and crafts, but the aim is for the students to use their imagination to get the children smiling.

Homework Club

The Homework Club is a new volunteering group this academic year and the 15 students involved are based in the East London Science School. Students are mentoring years 7 and 8 students to help improve the grades of students in Mathematics and English. This is a new school, and can therefore provide interesting statistics to measure potential improvements to grades.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering at QMUL, or if you are a community group/organisation looking for volunteers please click here.

QMSU Community Sport

The Community Sport programme helps to deliver a sustainable legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games in Tower Hamlets and the surrounding host boroughs. Queen Mary students are supported to gain National Governing Body of Sport coaching qualifications in a variety of sports. These qualifications are then put into practice with volunteering placements in local schools, sports clubs and community groups. Over 600 hours of sports activity has been delivered by QMUL students across a range of sports including football, basketball, cricket, hockey, netball, cheer-leading, badminton and tennis.

We also deliver a Multi-Sport Holiday camp during the Easter and Summer holidays allowing local young people the opportunity to try out a variety of different sports delivered by Queen Mary sports coaches.

We currently work with a variety of partners including the Tower Hamlets Youth Sport Foundation, Tower Hamlets Council Sport Development, Access Sport, Tower Hamlets Tennis and the Mile End Community Project in delivering sport in the community and encouraging young people to be active.

For more information on the Community Sport Programme, please click here.